Truly: A Count Cain OneShot
by ChildlikeEmpress
Summary: "Now my little Merrybegot, what happens to those who sin in the eyes of the Lord?" A look at the Hargreaves house and their views on hell and heaven.


"Truly"

By ChildlikeEmpress

Truth be told, Merry didn't get much of a religious education living with her brother. The young Count didn't hold much to the idea really. As Merry had overheard him telling Riff, "They are all the same, claiming to know the way to salvation. The only difference is the pretty ribbons and boxes they are wrapped in."

Merry dimly remembered that her mother had owned a wooden cross with a beaded chain. When things got particularly bad her mother would bring it out and hold it tightly in her fists crying like she did so often. Merry in the meantime began to nourish a love for the occult and became well known on the streets for her skills in Tarot reading.

Nothing really changed after big brother brought her home to live with him. She was allowed to keep her Tarot set, as long as she didn't surprise Cain with any impromptu performances while guests were visiting.

Once she had asked her brother if he believed in God. He had smiled a crooked smile, one that didn't quite reach his golden eyes…before ruffling her hair and asking if she and her stuffed rabbit would be joining him for tea. Merry, overcome with the prospect of a tea party with her brother had run from the room to collect her bunny and other girlish necessities. In doing so she missed the Count's whispered answer. "In a world like this one? I don't really think so."

Merry's final brush with religion was an un-enjoyable one. Cain's uncle had thought to do the favor of hiring Merry a new tutor after the untimely death of Madame Fleming. Their uncle made no inquiries of the lady however, or he might have learned that Mrs. Flanders was along the lines of a religious zealot. They would learn later that she had been a novice at a nearby monastery, but had been brutally raped by the gardener and forced by the sisters to marry him. After his death she had taken to tutoring young ladies in the arts of stitching, manners, and most importantly the saving of souls.

Even Cain knew little of what went on in those few weeks that Merry was in the care of Mrs. Flanders. He might not have known anything if Merry hadn't started having the nightmares.

It was the fifth time this week. Merry had woken up screaming for him again, her sobs uncontrollable. The Count was getting frustrated. Over and over he had asked what was wrong, what could he do? But Merry never answered. She would only cling to him until the tears ceased, before drifting off into an uneasy rest in Cain's embrace. The Count was unable to sleep after this, and would clutch the precious girl to him, daring the darkness to come for her. The first hint of what might be amiss came the next day.

Riff had intercepted the maid on her way to the nursery and had taken the tea tray in hand, intending on visiting Merry and bringing her the raspberry tarts she adored. He entered the room quietly, thus going unheard and unnoticed by Mrs. Flanders. The sight Riff was met with made him back away in shock. The woman was pacing back and forth in an absolute frenzy while clutching a Bible.

"Don't you see Merry! You have been raised in a den of iniquity! The demons must be brought out! As long as you call each night for that evil being you claim as relative, you will be subjected to God's wrath!"

Merry had been silent through this exchange, her lower lip quivering as she tried to hold back the tears. Riff slowly backed out of the room, shoving the tea at the nearest maid he came upon he rushed to the Count's study, barging in without knocking.

"Riff! What is the meaning of this?" Cain looked up angrily from his paperwork, only to pause in mid-sentence at the look on Riff's face, and was out of his seat before Riff had even finished his sentence.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Flanders was working up to her favorite part of the "lesson.""Now my little Merry-be-got, what happens to those who sin in the eyes of the Lord?"Merry, for the first time in weeks refused to answer the way she had been told, that they would suffer forever in the realms of purgatory, never once atoning for their sins…instead her anger burst out in one last stand against the woman before her.

"I don't care! I don't care! If there is a God he wouldn't make the people I love burn forever and ever! I HATE HIM!"

Mrs. Flanders turned white listening to the blasphemous words coming from the little girl's mouth. Suddenly, a look of rage crossed her face as she reached out and grabbed Merry, yanking her by the hair screaming, "then you will burn too you little witch!"

But then…

She heard a voice, deceptively sweet, like poison whisper in her ear….

"Only you Katherine, only you will burn."

Cain arranged for the sisters to take back the creature they had raised ever so carefully…that which had once been an eager apprentice, only wanting to do the Lord's work, had turned into a bitter betrayer of the faith. Some say her agonized screams can still be heard from the monastery tower. If only she had been offered something more than fire and brimstone. Is love such a sinful thing?

Merry was quiet for the first few days before seemingly emerging unscathed from her ordeal. The only remnant of that horrible week was a brief conversation between the Count and her. They sat in the sunshine, where no darkness could penetrate and spoke of things mystical and things Holy. Of hell and of heaven. In the end, the pair's sentiments towards the afterlife were summoned up in a drowsy mumble from Merry.

"I don't think it matters brother, what happens to us. As long as we're together…for truly, heaven would be hell without you there."

FIN

Mk, no I don't hate Catholics, no I'm not an atheist, no, no, nooooo!!!  
I was just bitten by a plot bunny…I couldn't help it's just that I was thinking back on it and really there isn't much religion in Godchild lol. So I just wanted to experiment with it. I like reading books on brainwashing and with crazy people so I thought what the heck, might as well try and write something. I tried to make Katherine Flanders more than a 2D Original Character by giving her a bit of a back-story. I was hoping to invoke some sympathy for a malevolent witch who was trying to convince Merry that the dear Count was devil spawn LOL. I feel sorry for her, but mostly I believe she turned out the way she did by not being shown any love. Also, I have lots of friends who are catholic, and had a couple of them read this. I did not intend to bash the Catholic religion. This is only a story anyways. You think I'd stay away from controversial stuff like this but obviously I haven't learned. VV

Anyways enough blathering. What got me started on this fic was the closing line. I'll get lines like that in my head and then immediately want to write a fic about them. Hehe they usually turn out to be CainxMerry ones when this happens. No real romance here, if you see it then congrats cause I don't lol. Probably cause I didn't intentionally write it that way. But anyways!! As you can see, I couldn't stay away from the genre. (: Hopefully this little offering will garner some reviews and perhaps some constructive criticism. I can only hope. :D

Sincerely,

ChildlikeEmpress


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